


In Search of Ilia

by withcameraandpen



Category: The Legend of Zelda & Related Fandoms, The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-26
Updated: 2020-09-26
Packaged: 2021-03-07 16:21:40
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,441
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26670577
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/withcameraandpen/pseuds/withcameraandpen
Summary: People all across Hyrule were rooting for Link to restore Ilia's memory. What did they think when they saw the Hero Chosen by the Gods chasing this one girl's memories?
Relationships: Ilia/Link (Legend of Zelda)
Kudos: 7





	In Search of Ilia

“Fortune has smiled upon us!” exclaimed Renado, throwing his arms wide. “If things go well, we should be able to help Ilia recover her memory!”

Renado watched hope fill Link’s face as he told him of the sudden boon in the form of Shad, Telma’s friend whose studies may hold the key to returning Ilia’s memory. Link was just as excited to return the poor girl’s memories as Renado! He had become quite protective of the Ordonian children since they’d come into his care, especially the daughter of his old friend Bo. So when Darbus suggested a possibly remedy for Ilia’s amnesia, Renado leaped at the opportunity. “The Goron elder believes that to help her regain her lost memories, we must piece together the fragments of her past, which means if we work our way backward from the very place where she lost her memory, we may find something that will restore it!”

Link stole a glance at Ilia, who was so turned inward on herself that she seemed unaware of Renado, Link, or even the hulking Gorons he’d called to discuss the affair. She had remained in a funk since Prince Ralis left, despite the children’s best efforts. It was difficult to be around people who claim to know you and yet you cannot recognize them, Renado supposed. But if she could just look at Link’s face and see that spark of determination to follow this lead, however slim it may turn out to be, then her unease would rest. He had the courage of a beast, that one, and the stubbornness of a mule. “Now we must retrace Ilia’s path. I am certain it was Telma who cared for her before she arrived in this village, was it not?” 

Link nodded, finally turning back to Renado. A fierce look came into his eye. “I escorted them myself. I know she picked up Prince Ralis somewhere on the road. I should look by the waterways.”

“I believe instead of surveying whole provinces, our best course is to retrace her route bit by bit,” Renado replied. “It would be best to speak with Telma first. Please take this to her.”

He handed him a letter, detailing his theory and prescription. Telma could be a handful, but she, like Ilia, protected those who needed guarding. No wonder she and Ilia took to each other.

Link pocketed the letter and said, “I’ll track as far back as I can. If I find any other leads, I’ll let you know.”

Renado clapped a hand on his shoulder. “We have a fighting chance, Link!”

He nodded. Renado saw a fierce spark of hope in his face. “We do.”

Link turned to Ilia, the ferocity in his face softening. “Can you tell me what you remembered?” he asked her. “It would help me recognize what I’m looking for.”

Her gaze remained fixed on the floor. Renado watched Link’s confidence wither just slightly. “Ilia?”

She looked up at him with that helpless sadness Renado watched grow in her over the last few weeks. “Link.”

She took a deep breath, closed her eyes, and concentrated. “I remember being saved from a dangerous situation by someone…”

She shuddered. Link reached out a hand, and Ilia grabbed it in a practiced, fluid motion. She continued, “Someone who told me all about the rod of the heavens.”

Her face fell. “But now I can’t remember the who, why, where, or what it all means. Do you really think I’ll recover my memory?”

“Renado’s confident and so am I,” he said, voice firm. “I promise I’ll do everything in my power to help you.”

She shook her head and let go of his hand, turning away from them all. “I regret that a complete stranger like yourself got caught up in all of this because of me. I’m so sorry.”

Pain flickered across Link’s face for a split second, and Renado got the distinct impression that he was missing something. He knew they must be close, but how close had eluded even Renado’s observation.

Link opened his mouth, but no sound came forth. He may be courageous, but he was still a young man, and young men are often lost in the reeds of difficult conversations.

“If Link did not want to help us, Ilia,” said Renado, “then he would not. I’ve tended young men like him. To them, helping young women in need is a point of pride.”

Ilia paused, then said, “How many of these young men have come to you to fix them, Renado?”

“A great deal.”

Ilia walked toward Link and gave him the first hint of a smile Renado had seen in days. “Please be careful on your journey, because I couldn’t abide you getting hurt when trying to help me. All I want is for you to come home safely.”

Link gave her an aching, bittersweet smirk, a desperate failure at hiding his pain. “I promise I’ll be careful, Ilia.”

Telma gave Link a hearty grin the moment he stepped foot in her bar. 

Link nodded toward Rusl, Auru, and Ashei in the back, poring over the water-ringed map of Hyrule. Instead of going to join them, Link made a beeline for the bar. He needed something from Telma, but she could tell it wasn’t drink. “How’s that Ilia doing, honey?”

“She’s safe,” he replied. “She’s starting to remember a little bit, but not much.”

“I’m sure that shaman will find a way to get her memory back. That Renado is a talented man, for sure!” Renado, so stoic and sure of his course of action. Why, he’d make a great member of their little revolution, wouldn’t he? “Anyway, honey, you’ve got your own things to worry about, so you just make sure you do what needs doing right now, okay?”

“That’s why I’m here, actually.” He pulled out a cloth envelope woven with the distinct patterns of Kakariko Village. “I have a letter for you.”

She snatched it from him and opened the envelope, quickly unfolding the letter and skipping to the signature on the bottom. “Well, if it isn’t from Renado, the shaman!”

She returned to the beginning and read thoroughly. So, Ilia was getting scraps of memory back, but Gor Coron and Darbus believed they could take a more active role in her treatment by looking for an object lost somewhere along Ilia’s path to Castle Town. “All this writing, and he doesn’t bother to mention a thing about little ol’ me? Honey, that is what I call rude!”

Link’s eyes shifted to the side as he scratched the back of his neck. “When I saw him last, he seemed really focused on helping Ilia.”

“There’s being focused, and then there’s being polite to someone whose assistance you want. You’ll do well to remember that.” She sighed. “Well, there’s no accounting for the foolishness of a man. And at least I understand Ilia’s situation now. Of course, I can lend a hand for that adorable little girl!”

The barest hint of relief flickered over Link’s stoic face. “Thank you, Telma. Whatever you know about how Ilia got here would be a huge help. I’m going to follow the trail and see what I can find.”

“Hmmm. What else do I know?”

Telma thought, trying to concentrate on the task at hand but finding herself distracted by Link’s demeanor. He was amiable, sure, but she detected that spirit she first saw when he volunteered to escort them to Kakariko Village, that wild ferocity only tamed by focus on his mission. He knew Ilia well, that much was true. Telma couldn’t understand why he wouldn’t just tell her! It would save the poor girl some anguish, knowing there was one other person who cared about her.

Yes, Link cared deeply about her. No one braves plains of monsters for total strangers or Zora princes (well, Telma herself had, in a matter of speaking, but what was she supposed to do? Abandon these three young things to the wolves?).

She shook herself and returned to the task at hand. What happened the day she met Ilia? “The first one to bring Ilia to this shop was that doctor. Maybe he knows something, but he’s a crusty old bat, for sure.”

Link’s brow furrowed in frustration. “Doesn’t seem the type given to talking.”

“Only about his own troubles,” she grumbled, until she realized that those troubles could be exactly what they need. “Ah…I’ve got it!”

She crouched under the counter for her register. That old bat had drowned many sorrows in her tavern, and Telma hadn’t seen a dime of recompense!

She found a blank invoice, wrote in the scary-looking number next to the doctor’s name in her register, and then handed it over to Link. “Honey, you go ahead and take this to him. This magic little paper will get that old codger talking!”

Link took the paper. His eyebrows shot behind his wild hair as he read. “Wow.”

Telma folded her arms. “I do my best to keep people aware of what they owe me, but he’s a wily one. I’m sure a young man like you can get him to see sense.”

He nodded dutifully. “I’ll see what I can do.”

“It sure would be nice if she started remembering things soon.” Poor Ilia, not knowing she had this dashing knight at her beck and call.

“Yeah,” said Link. “It would be nice.”

Now, Telma had seen a lot of people get emotional, even the stoniest of folks. She heard that tightness in his voice, that chord of uncertainty that not even the finest of shamans could cure. No one knew what could happen next.

But they were the ones who would make it happen.

“Then make sure you do what needs doing, Link.” She smirked again. “And I’m sure Ilia will thank you for it.”

Link took a deep breath, nodded, and then marched out of her tavern, a man on a mission with renewed faith.

The doctor cowered under the intimidating young man’s stare, holding out Telma’s bill with disinterest. It was like he didn’t even know it was practically a death warrant! “Look, I can’t pay this off right now! I can see Telma’s hired you as some sort of heavy to strong-arm me, but she’ll have to wait!”

The heavy folded his arms. “Tell me about the girl you sent into Telma’s care, and she will.”

“Her?” He couldn’t fathom how that girl had anything to do with Telma’s intimidation tactic. Unless that statue had actually been valuable! No, it couldn’t possibly be--well, maybe it had some sort of cultural or historical value, but it was carved from wood, with no jewels or gold to adorn it. Monetarily, it was nothing. But would this heavy know that? 

“Look, lad, if I’d been able to sell the wooden statue that young lady had, I would’ve been able to get the money.”

His eyes lit up and he opened his mouth, but the good doctor plowed on as renewed courage filled him. “But see, I accidentally spilled medicine all over that little carving, which made it stink awfully. I put it outside to dry, but then…”

“Then what?” The heavy leaned in, clearly unafraid to use his considerable height and bulk against a poor old man like the doctor!

He swallowed. “It was stolen.”

“Stolen?” The heavy’s brow furrowed. “By who?”

“Who goes around stealing people’s stuff like that? What a world! You always have to be on guard, eh?” he replied, trying to schmooze. But this tactic also failed spectacularly, and the heavy glared down at him. He expected something, but the doctor had nothing to give.

“Uh, look, Mr. Heavy, at any rate, neither the money nor the carving is here, so I can’t repay you.”

Satisfied that he had rebuffed Telma’s demands, he turned and headed into his private office. “Now, to work, to work.”

He heard the young man walk past his office and enter the exam room. Oh, well. As long as he got away from that frightful heavy, he could take whatever he wanted as collateral if it would get Telma off his back!

Louise, the plump white cat doted on by Telma, was waiting for the wolf when he arrived. Louise had overheard the conversation between Link and her owner and knew it wouldn’t be long before the wolf reappeared. “You’re looking for the wooden statue that Ilia had, aren’t you, dear?”

The wolf nodded. The impish creature that sat astride him like a horse yawned in boredom. Louise ignored her. “Think it’s a coincidence that I happen to know it got stolen from the doctor’s place? No.”

The wolf growled. The imp sat up in interest. Louise, doing her best to look ashamed, said, “Yes, I’ll admit it. I took it. But then I was attacked by some sort of skeletal dog beasts who took it from me!” Those creatures were horrendous, monstrous things. How they could come so close to Castle Town was a disgrace! What were those guards doing with their time?

The wolf snarled. “What did they want?”

“I don’t know why those beasts were after her statue. I thought it likely that she was in a dangerous spot, though.”

“Dangerous spot?” he repeated. “Where did this happen?”

“Those fiends lurk just outside the southern gate. Unfortunately, they only come out at night.”

“Can you get on with it?” she said, tugging the wolf’s ear. “In case you didn’t notice, your entire world is at stake here! I don’t know why we’re wasting time with Ilia, anyway.”

Louise’s eyes narrowed. “And another thing,” she said to the wolf, eyeing the creature on his back. “They always move around as a pack. You won’t get that statue back unless you give them all a thrashing.”

The wolf nodded. “Thanks. That statue’s important to me.”

“No wonder. It sounds like a key to getting Ilia’s memory back. You must get it back.”

“Don’t worry,” replied the wolf, baring his teeth. “I will.”

He took off running, jolting the imp upon his back in surprise.

Ilia looked up when the doors to the sanctuary burst open. Standing there with early morning light shining behind him was Link, filled with confidence and hope.

“Link!” she said, stirring Renado from his discussion with the Goron elders. Link strutted towards her and pulled a statue from his pack, which he presented to her without a word.  
It was a beautiful statue, carved in tiers and topped with an alert, savvy eye.

She gasped. She’d seen this before!

“Ilia?” Renado said, hurrying to her side.

“What…is this?!”

Renado glanced over the statue in her hands. “This is ancient iconography. Where did you find this, Link?”

Ilia gasped again and dropped the statue as images began to flood her mind. A run-down village, Bokoblins firing arrows at anything that moved, a kindly old face, her fingers closing around that statue as she was bidden to run for safety. This all happened in the span of a second, because in the next, Link had given a start, arms lifting a fraction. 

“I remember something…I was confined somewhere…. Yes, and I was saved by whoever was confined with me…”

She clutched her head, which felt like it was full to bursting. Link gave another start, but Renado waved a cautionary hand in his direction. Good--if she were touched now, the fragile being that was Ilia, cobbled together by half-memories and the stories of others, would crumble. “And when that person set me free, they gave me this statue…”

She straightened up, eyes wide. “Yes, yes, I remember that much!”

“Excellent, Ilia!” said Renado.

The momentary thrill of remembering her past vanished as the realization of what, exactly, she’d remembered became clear. “But that means that person is still in trouble!” Where were they? Were they even still alive? “Oh, what is wrong with me?! I can’t remember where that place was!”

Gor Coron exclaimed, “I remember! I thought I had seen that statue before somewhere. That belonged to the tribe that protected the Hylian royal family long ago. They worked in secret, so they lived in a lonely, forgotten place. But I heard that tribe dwindled in the prolonged wars…”

“Where did they live?” said Link, voice cutting and desperate. How did she know this was what he sounded like when he was desperate? “Where was their hiding place?”

“There’s a path leading to the Lanayru province on the far side of the Bridge of Eldin. The path branches off into the mountains.”

Link started for the door, but another memory had surfaced in Ilia’s mind: a terrible quake and a deadly avalanche. “But a rockslide blocked the way to the village. You can’t get there anymore!”

Link hesitated, fists clenching as he turned back, but then Gor Coron replied cheerfully, “Problems like these are not problems to Gorons!”

With a dutiful nod, Darbus headed towards the door. “He’ll meet you there.”

“Good.” As Link and Gor Coron made their plans, a gentle hand settled on her shoulder and she looked up into the face of Renado, guiding her to a seat. “You’re shaking, Ilia.”

She glanced down at her hands, calloused from a youth of hard work. They were, in fact, trembling. “I suppose I am.”

By the time Renado got her some water, Link and Gor Coron had finished up. Now Link was walking over and kneeling before her, concern filling his blue eyes. “Are you all right?”

“Don’t worry about me!” she urged. “Go help the person who saved me. My memory’s not important!”

“All right, Ilia.” But the concern didn’t leave his eyes, and another memory flickered into her mind like the shadow of a candlelight: insubstantial, but present. She remembered that concern when she cut her hand as they toiled, that doubt as she promised him she'd away from the deeper parts of the woods. “I’ll get going.”

She needed space to ruminate on these memories. “Good! Go!”

He rose to his feet and went to the door. With one last glance over his shoulder with that gaze full of concern, he set off into the dawn, eager to follow her trail.

Impaz was floored when the evil howling stopped.

The monsters were silent. Could it be they were gone? Vanquished? Curious, she stepped outside and found herself in an empty town. “The howls of the beasts…they’ve faded into silence.”

A strapping young man with a bow walked up to her. 

“Wait, are you…” Yes, he was. This must be the person she was waiting for! “The savior! It’s you, the savior!”

The young man blushed. “I’m glad to help.”

Impaz explained to him the history of her old town and the dwindling of her people. He listened with rapt attention as she watched loneliness, a familiar kind of loneliness, come over him. It seemed he knew the toll of a sacred duty, too.

“Excuse me for asking, but is your name Link?” He nodded. “I knew it! So then, you saved that nice girl?”

He smiled. “I played my role. She saved herself, more or less.”

“How lovely.” It did Impaz’ heart good to know that Ilia would be all right. “When she was here, she would often cheer me up by saying that you would come to help.”

Link’s eyebrows lifted. Impaz was surprised. Oh, how that girl would talk about him! She had so much faith that Impaz was worried what would happen if her Link didn’t show, but now she saw that her faith was well-earned. “That sweet girl…she worried about this old woman even as I helped her to escape from here…”

But enough of that. Ilia would want her strapping young man home soon, wouldn’t she? Time to get down to business, to fulfill her family’s sworn duty. “By royal order, I can’t leave this place until a certain person arrives, no matter what terrible fate is visited upon it.”

Then with a jolt, she remembered the promise she made to Ilia, and the hope the girl had left her with. “Oh, but listen to me blather on! I have a favor to ask: would you help me return this to her? I think she always kept it close to her heart, but even so, she didn’t hesitate to part with it in order to protect me.”

She reached under her collar and pulled out the necklace Ilia had given her, adorned with a curious horseshoe-shaped charm. Link’s eyes lit up when she put it in his hands. “This is her charm,” he murmured, running a finger along the inner curve. “She must have made it back home.”

“I believe in my heart that it’s kept me safe all this time.”

Impaz pleaded with him to return it to the girl, but she saw desperation in his eyes, as well as a determined certainty that he would get that charm back to her, come hell or high water.

He said, “She lost her memory after she left here. I think this will be the key to getting it back.”

“Then what are you still doing here, young man?” she replied. “Go find Ilia and give it back to her! Don’t waste your time with an old thing like me. Go!”

He bowed his head. “Thank you, ma’am, for helping me and for keeping Ilia safe.”

He took off without another word, eager to restore dear Ilia’s memory.

Link returned to his human form as soon as he returned to Kakariko Village. He sighed with relief when he felt the weight of her charm, however light, against his side in his pack. After going to such lengths to get it back, he feared some cosmic accident would have ripped it away again.

“Good luck, lover boy,” said Midna as she slipped into his shadow to hide. It seemed every stranger they met had known how he felt about Ilia. As much as he’d tried to keep his feelings secret so as not to scare her off, he hadn’t done a very good job. All he hoped was that if Ilia had guessed, she took it in stride.

He burst through the doors of the sanctuary like a bat outta hell, drawing the stares of Renado, Gor Coron, and Ilia. Ilia’s mouth opened, no doubt surprised to see him so soon, but he already crossed the room and rooted in his pack for the charm.

“Link!” said Renado. “Be cautious. We must not overwhelm her.”

He looked at Ilia, who stared at Link with keen desperation. She knew he’d come to save her. “I have the key,” he said through his teeth, undaunted by Renado. All his struggle, all her sorrow was about to be eradicated. “She’s waited long enough.”

“Still, we don’t want a repeat of last time.”

“She’s strong, Renado,” he replied. Ilia’s eyebrows lifted in curiosity. “She can handle it.”

Without another word, he pulled out the charm and pressed it into her hands.

She gave a little jump at the sight of the charm, but then her eyes slid up to meet Link’s, gazing at him in wonder. “I…I knew you once,” she murmured, closing her eyes and furrowing her brow. “Yes, this feels so familiar. The scent of hay…”

She closed her eyes and took a big gulp of air, as if she could smell the fields of Ordon upon it. “Long ago, when we were young, you and I…”

Link’s heart thudded. “Do you remember me, Ilia?”

She gave the smallest of nods. “You were always there. You were always beside me.”

She opened her eyes, and he saw tears glimmering in them and recognition shining forth. “Link!”

He beamed at her. “It’s me.”

“It’s you! I remember the springs, the ranch, the work--my father! I remember Epona, I remember chiding you for riding her too much, I remember you promising me to come home safely. I remember the monsters, I remember them hurting you. I remember you. I remember you!”

She leaped into his arms. He returned her embrace, feeling the ache in his heart vanish as Ilia was finally returned to him. He heard the retreating footsteps of Gor Coron and Renado but paid them no mind. Ilia was back, and that was all that mattered.

“Wait.” She pulled back. “What of Impaz?”

“She’s safe and sound,” he replied with a smile. “And she was very grateful to you for giving her that charm.”

She looked at the charm in her hands, its string tangled in her fingers. “This gift was meant for you, Link. It was something I wanted to give you before you left on your journey.”

He sighed. “Oh, Ilia, I missed you.”

“I missed you, too.”

He held her for a long time, grateful to the gods for allowing Ilia this boon, this safety. As long as Ilia was safe, Link could summon the courage to face any foe. “If you feel better, I’ll take you and the children back to Ordon Village. Just say the word.”

“I do miss home, Link. Now that I know where it is, I miss it dearly.” She sighed into his shoulder and then pulled away again, a bittersweet look in her eye. “But you still have work to do, don’t you?”

He had the passing thought: _my world is safe. Why ought I keep going?_ But then he heard a voice that sounded suspiciously like Midna chide him for such thinking, and he knew what he had to do. “I do. My hope is that it’s over soon, and you and the kids will be safe.”

She leaned in and kissed him, sweet and gentle but with a confidence that was so uniquely Ilia that it made him happy all over again for her return. At the same time, she pushed the charm back into his hands. “Please, take it,” she murmured when they parted. “You don’t need to worry about me any longer. Whenever you return, I’ll be waiting for you.”

He looked into her eyes and saw his Ilia gazing back. “Thank you for everything, Link.”

He cradled her face with his rough hand. “Thank you, Ilia.”

“For what?”

“For coming back to me.”

She leaned in again. “You’re the one that brought me back.”

The weight of his destiny had sealed him off from the world. He’d buried his heart, crying out to heal Ilia and make sure she was okay. And now that she was, he could allow himself to feel again. “Well, you’re the one that brought me out.”


End file.
